Manish Pandey marked his arrival to the KPL with an awe-inspiring century to put Belagavi Panthers in the drivers’ seat but Hubli Tigers drove home a point by edging them out in a thrilling contest at the Karnataka Premier League (KPL) here at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium yesterday.

Asked to bat in the second match of the day, the Panthers stuttered to a measly 74 for 6 in 13 overs, but with Pandey still at the crease, there was still hope for a big total. And surely enough, Pandey’s brilliance guided them to 180 for 7 in 20 overs. Much to everyone’s surprise, though the Tigers scored 181 for 5 in 19.5 overs, thanks mainly to Mohammad Taha’s 55-ball 77 and Pravin Dubey’s unbeaten 18-ball 33, for their first win this season.

With 11 needed of the final over, Dubey slammed a six off a no-ball from D. Avinash to finish things off in style, much to Pandey’s dismay.

Pandey, who returned from national duty only a few days ago, took over from Mir Kaunian Abbas as the skipper and he studded the occasion with a fiery 102 not out from 50 balls with seven fours and as many sixes. While he ate up 33 balls to get to his 50, he took a mere 17 deliveries to score the remaining 52 runs en route to his second KPL century. This was also the second fastest century in KPL after Mayank Agarwal’s 48-ball ton.

Warriors go down to Bulls

In the earlier match, Bharath Chipli feasted on Mysuru Warriors’ lacklustre bowling to give Bijapur Bulls their maiden win.

The Bulls’ skipper blasted the third-fastest half-century in KPL, to help his side to an eight-wicket win, overshadowing a valiant 73 not out from Warriors’ K.V. Siddharth.

J. Suchith holds the top spot for the fastest half-century in KPL with his 15-ball blitz. Balachandra Akhil is second with a fifty in 17 balls. Chipli’s 20-ball half-century and a final tally of 77 from 40 balls with seven fours and six sixes guided Bulls to 144 for 2 in 14.4 overs in response to Warriors’ 140 for 4 in 20 overs.

Brief Scores

Belegavi Panthers: 180 for 7 in 20 overs (Manish Pandey 102 not out; Vidyadhar Patil 2-41, David Mathias 2-18) lost to Hubli Tigers: 181 for 5 in 19.5 overs (Luvnith Sisodia 29, Mohammad Taha 75, K.B. Pawan 22, Pravin Dubey 33 not out; Stallin Hoover 2-35) by five wickets.

Mysuru Warriors: 140 for 4 in 20 overs (K.V. Siddharth 72 not out, Manjesh Reddy 23, Shoaib Manager 28; Prateek Jain 2-16) lost to Bijapur Bulls: 144 for 2 in 14.4 overs (Bharath Chipli 77, M.G. Naveen 45; Vyshak Vijay Kumar 2-36).